In the film, we are shown the brutality of war. The
inhumanity, the struggle, the depravity of human existence. We see that unlike
previous wars, civilian populations were not in the clear during the Second
World War. Neither side of the conflict fought in a respectable way and moral deprivations
occurred daily by every army of the day. The reality is if you were a person
who grew up under Nazi rule, chances are you would have been a Nazi. Just as if
you grew up under soviet rule, you would have been a Bolshevik who would fight
just so Stalin could send you to the Gulag or a forced labor camp in Siberia. If
you were lucky enough to not be condemned for treason against Russia because
you were a prisoner of war, you may have been able to occupy east Germany were
the rape of German women was so high that suicide rates exploded post WWII. If
you were born in Japan, you would have been a Japanese soldier who at the battle
of Okinawa pulled American soldiers into caves and torched, beheaded, and
gutted them alive. (This was if you were lucky). Or perhaps you would have
invaded china and participated in the “Raping of Nanking”. For a read that will
really mess with you head, read Testimonials
of Unit 731. A Japanese army medical unite that operated high in the
Japanese government and universities. Or an American who was complicit in the never-ending
bombing raids over Germany and Japanese civilian populations. A comprehensive
study of the atrocities of the 20th century was done by Dr. Rudolph
Rummel (Ph.D in Political Science) and if you want to grasp a comprehensive
understanding of the killing done by governments it would be a solid place to
start research. Understanding the 20th Century is an obsession of mine
and to simply explain away these events as bad does not do them justice in the
slightest. Using strong language such as disgusting or volatile may have a
since of truth to them but the reality is, war brings out things in human
psychology that would never rise to the surface in ordinary circumstances. I study
history, economics, psychology, and philosophies as much as I possibly can;
because to fully grasp any social issue it requires a universal grasp of the
time. These events are not even a hundred years old yet, a mere couple
generation ago they would have been current events. To say that history is rewritten
by the victors is simply an understatement. To say that we will never forget
the lessons of the past is even more ironic since they apparently are forgotten
by the majority who make up the voting population. If there is one thing I have
found to be true in history, it is the reiteration of old ideologies and
philosophies which are then repackaged under a new name then resold to the public
with a fancy new bow tied to it as a new, a better, an original idea that must certainly
be the new craze. Which just goes back to the idea that anything will be bought
if given the right sales pitch.
